Archive for October, 2012

Bands:Dispatch, Good Old WarLocation: Boston, Massachusetts’s Agganis ArenaDate: October 6, 2012All pictures by Avery Fiftal for Lost In The Sound

About 12 hours before the doors of the concert even opened, the three members of the Boston-based band Dispatchbegan work on their national service project at the Boston Arts Academy with about 200 other volunteers. Amplifying Education is a campaign started by Dispatch to support local organizations and improve the education of children across the United States. On the same day most shows, the band will get together with over a hundred fan volunteers and try to make a big difference in the lives of children across the country. I went near the end of the event to check it out and help out. Near the end of the event, I noticed two friends waiting to get more paint. They were simply looking around and were amazed at the work that they did in only a couple hours. As the event came to a close, it was clear to see that the hours of hard work in the school created bonds between people that met that same day. Some people came to just help and see the band, as they could not make the concert the same night. You can watch a video of Dispatch playing “The General” with students at the Boston Arts Academy during the event.

Good Old War opened for Dispatch at the Agganis Arena in Boston to promote their new album that came out earlier this year, Come Back as Rain. For the majority of the audience, it was just enjoyable music to listen to as they bought their drinks and snacks and sat down. The crowd had fans of all ages. As diverse as the people there were, there was not a short amount of fans of Good Old War. “Coney Island” was met with applause and cheer while parts of the crowd sang along. As the opening show ended, the stadium gradually became full as everybody found their seats waiting anxiously for Dispatch.

As soon as Dispatch came on stage, everybody in the stadium stood up as they opened with “Time Served”. The crowd was energetic and almost everybody stayed standing the entire show. When some of the unfamiliar, new songs from Circles Around the Sun appeared, a number of people would sit down. However, all of the songs that were written before their long hiatus were met with liveliness from the entire crowd. The crowd knew all the live versions of every old song they had such as the repeating chant of “go now you are forgiven” in “The General” or the amazing build-up and introduction of “Flying Horses”. Throughout the show, the three main members of Dispatch had other people join them on stage, but as they ended with “Elias” there only remained Chad, Brad and Pete. It was amazing to see thousands of people sing along to such a powerful song that was made 16 years ago for their debut album, Silent Steeples.

There were fans of all ages at the show and it was awesome to see so many different kinds of people singing along to songs by a band I never thought would get back together. Dispatch knew how to have fun and entertain the crowd while still remaining musically adept. This is the first time I’ve ever been to a Dispatch show and before I have always heard stories of how great the energy of the crowd was. Going to the concert solidified my opinion of Dispatch being a great band that can have so much fun at a concert and having one of the best fan bases that a band can have.

Wow, this track is a problem. Less than half an hour ago and with no prior warning, A$AP Rocky announced to his Twitter followers that a new track would be released later today. “F*ckin Problem” is that song, which comes loaded with features from Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar, as well as production from Drake’s right-hand-man and producer Noah “40” Shebib. Stream or grab the MP3 below, courtesy of Rocky himself. “F*ckin Problem” is the latest single to drop from PMF’s upcoming album LongLiveA$AP, scheduled for release on October 31 through A$AP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records.

Lord Huron is a folk/rock band from Michigan. Their songs are filled with smooth dreamy vocals and sweet acoustic melodies. While their albums are full of emotionally deep and soothing tunes, these guys can get incredibly loud and intense live. When I saw them at Lollapalooza in 2011, I stood front row and watched their nice folk sound transform into a rock concert with such natural flow. The music is crafted beautifully with such attention to various kinds of instruments.

On October 9th, Lord Huron released their first LP, Lonesome Dreams. The first two tracks to their new release can be streamed below. Also, check out their Fall U.S tour dates.

Psychedelic-pop band Kent State recently released their latest EP Behind Closed Doors through Rok Lok Records, which is currently available for free on their Bandcamp page.I interviewed Nicholas Vance of Kent State earlier in the year which can be found here.

Behind Closed Doors creates a great medium between lo-fi and punk. It has the real “head-nod” quality of punk with a great range in the guitar but the catchy vocals that are softly drowning in reverb. The EP sounds a lot cleaner and tightened up.

On Oct. 10 they released the official video for their EP’s title track. Kent State paired up with some of their friends at Pumpkin Morgue Paranormal Investigators to make the video. All of the side clips in the music video are from Pumpkin Morgue Paranormals ghost hunting mockumentary tv show. Check out the video below.

Armin van Buuren, the number one DJ for a consecutive 4 years from 2007 – 2011, gives his fans a 1 hour documentary about his life right now as a superstar producer/DJ. The documentary humanizes Armin van Buuren, even though we think of him as a huge idol. It shows his personal life with his wife and daughter, while juggling the dates and months that he will be on tour for his massive fanbase. This could easily be one of my favorite documentaries about a DJ right now as it captures the personality of a great DJ. Another great documentary to watch is Take One, which is a documentary about the Swedish House Mafia.

3LAU, a producer/DJ and one of the best mashup artists in the EDM scene right now, gives a free track for his fans. Adding vocals to Sultan & Ned Shepard hit progressive house song, Walls. 3LAU adds a perfect blend of vocals for the song, 3LAU always delivers good music and gives us a single track after releasing his mixtape, Dance Floor Filth 2 that came out a couple months ago. 3LAU also produces his own music, he has released his own remix to James Egbert‘s Back to New, and he has a new track coming out soon with the duo Paris and Simo.

In just three weeks, rap’s new messiah Kendrick Lamar will release his highly-anticipated new album good kid, m.A.A.d. city. Today, we get an exclusive sneak peek of the album with an ode to the city of Compton. Teaming up with legends Dr. Dre and Just Blaze, Kendrick and Dre flow viciously for four minutes on “Compton”, which according to the pre-order tracklisting on iTunes, will serve as the 12th and final track on the standard version of the album. Interestingly enough, the much-talked-about track with Lady Gaga does not appear on the tracklisting, although “Poetic Justice” with Drake still remains. Check out the song below courtesy of TDE’s mixing specialist Ali.

Freelance Whalesis an indie rock band from Queens, New York. The band’s sophomore album, Diluvia, is currently streaming on NPR. You can listen to it on the NPR website. Freelance Whales has been compared to The Postal Service and Sufjan Stevens, but in their newest release it feels as if they have finally created their own, unique sound. Diluvia has many of the similar attributes that many fans loved about their first album, Weathervanes, such as use of the banjo and glockenspiel. Check out a number of tour dates and see if the band’s coming to your city. Freelance Whales is a fun band to see live.